New EPA Regulation Invades Our Own Homes
Costing Home Owners 10 - 15% Or More On Their Home Repairs & Renovations
Just think how much more money victims of Hurricane Irene will have to dish out based on this new EPA Ruling? Not to mention the increase in insurance premiums when all the added costs are factored in. Who knows when your area will be the next victim of a natural disaster that will require expensive repairs at this 15% increase in costs?
Once again the government, through all its oppressive regulations, will be costing taxpayers money they can't afford and invading our own homes and controlling what we can do with our own personal and real estate property. We don't really own anything if the federal government can control what we do with it. It is one thing to regulate businesses or entities that affect numbers of people or children (as bad as those EPA regulations are), but it is quite another thing to control what we do with our homes where we are not affecting anyone but ourselves. That's like telling people they can't have unhealthy food in their home, smoke in their own house even if they are the only person living there, or even control their own thermostat.
To explain, a friend of mine went to Lowe's to buy a $159 wood front door. From his understanding they were going to charge him $16.00 for an EPA inspection of some kind. Then there was another fee of 35.00 for something connected to EPA for a total of $51.00. By the time he bought the $159 door and had it installed, it was going to cost him about $300.00. He didn't buy the door but brought me the Lowe's "Detail Expectation Sheet" with the figures on it. Lowe's lost a sale and a customer was denied a service he needed because of an unnecessary EPA regulation.
I called the sales person listed on the paper work from Lowe's to get the details. The sales person told me that beginning this year a new EPA regulation required that any repair or renovation on a home built before 1978 required testing for lead before the work could be done (including replacing doors, windows, carpet, stoves, almost anything that would be an installation for a home, and even painting if any sanding or disturbance of the paint were involved). This sales Person told me the regulation started this year (2011) but it was really implemented April 23, 2010 according to the Press Release below. Later I found a waiver for enforcement of this regulation until October 1, 2010) A whopping 80 percent of existing homes were built before 1980. http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20061213_olderhomes.htm
Workers will have to be certified as lead-safe by the EPA and wear special gear outfitted with air filters, goggles and hoods. Work sites will have to be protected with heavy plastic and cleaned thoroughly with special vacuums, with warning signs posted," is the way an AP story described the procedure. However, lead in paint had been reduced drastically or eliminated years before 1978. One article I read said, "The recommended amount of lead in domestic paint had declined from 50% before 1965, to 1% in 1965. http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/airquality/publications/housepaint.html
This regulation is designed more for control than for safety and is laying the groundwork for future controls in our own home. In 2008, "[P]owered by a wave of public outrage that transcended party lines, California citizens forced regulators at the California Energy Commission to abandon plans to control thermostat settings in private homes... Under the proposal, every new home and every renovated heating and air conditioning system would be required by law to include an FM receiver that would allow the Energy Commission to reset the thermostat to whatever temperature the agency desired during times of peak usage." So even if your home was built after 1978, there will be other forthcoming EPA rules in the future if we don't stop them now. http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2008/03/01/public-outrage-throttles-california-plan-control-home-thermostats
The Lowe's sales person said if there was lead in the area when they tested it, they had to build something "like a cocoon" (I later learned this is called containment) around it to keep the dust from escaping the area. The $16.00 fee at Lowe's was to cover the cost of that test for lead. Then there was another fee of $35.00 that had to be paid up front but would be given back if no lead was found in the area. When I asked the sales person how much that "cocoon thing" he talked about would cost he said he had no idea.
However, "The home builders group estimates that the new rule could cost between $500 and $1,500 for large projects costing more than $5,000." The EPA countered, "that additional expenses may be as low at $8 to $167. The $16.00 fee at Lowe's on a $159.00 door would be like an added 10% sales tax - and that is no estimate but real facts and lines up with the estimates by the home builders group. No surprise that the EPA would give such a low estimate since they described the procedure as "simple and effective lead-safe work practices." And this $16.00 fee does not include the other $35.00 required by Lowe's up front before they can even begin the test. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/04/new_federal_rule_on_lead_paint.html
The sales person referred me to Lowe's Install Sales Department for more information about the EPA regulation. This Lowe's employee agreed with the information given me by the other sales person. He also said that Lowe's had agreed to Regulations that went beyond what was required by EPA (more about that later]. I asked if all the major stores were charging to have the area tested for lead before replacing a door, or other installations in homes built before 1978. He said yes, and that you might find an independent contractor that would do it without testing, but that contractor would be liable if he did not follow the EPA rules. He gave me the number to call the EPA hot line 1-800-424-LEAD or 1-800-424-5323.
This EPA worker (Kelly) said the regulation requires any contractor who renovates any part of the house built before 1978 that includes six square feet of the interior or 20 or more square feet of the exterior to either test for lead or treat the area as though there is lead there. The regulation also includes painting if any sanding or disturbance is done. This means they have to contain the area to make sure dust particles don't escape the area unless they first test for lead and find there is no lead there.
The EPA worker said Lowe's has gone beyond the required regulations. I asked her what that meant. She said Lowe's tests on EVERY job whether it covers 6 square feet or not in the interior and 20 square feet on the exterior or not. The $16.00 is not an EPA fee charged by EPA, she said. Evidently the $16.00 fee is Lowe's way of covering their cost for the test for lead. I asked her if Home Depot also went beyond required regulations, and she said yes they also were going beyond the regulations just as Lowe's does. She referred me to website http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm article for more information on the EPA ruling.
As a practical business response, Lowe's and other companies probably have to test every area because that is cheaper than taking the added steps to contain the area they are working in as required by the EPA regulation if they don't test. This is another of those EPA regulations that hurt businesses (they will lose sales over this regulation) and cost the consumers - even during this economic crisis in our country. And who thought the EPA could ever come directly into our homes - property we own - and require such unnecessary regulations!
Following is the Press Release on this Regulation. Note how EPA says in the press release: "This rule requires contractors to follow some simple and effective lead safe work practices to prevent children's exposure to dangerous levels of lead. Go to this link to see what is really required for this simple work practice. It takes 32 pages to explain all that is involved. http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/sbcomplianceguide.pdf In essence this EPA rule involves added money for buyers (in some cases probably more than double), certification fees for contractors, installers and painters, change in policy of installation for retail businesses, record keeping by the contractors for 3 years after the project, clean up details, and disposal of waste, and on and on.
Release date: 04/23/2010
Contact Information: Dale Emery kemery.dale@epa.gov 202-564-7839 202-564-4355
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
April 23, 2010
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that
renovations and repairs of pre-1978 housing must now be conducted using safe
practices to protect children and pregnant women from exposure to lead-based
paint. Almost a million children have elevated blood lead levels as a result of
exposure to lead hazards, which can lead to lower intelligence, learning
disabilities, and behavior issues. Adults exposed to lead hazards can suffer
from high blood pressure and headaches. Children under six years old are most at
risk.
“Our lead-safe program will protect children and families from lead-based paint
hazards associated with renovation and repair activities in houses built before
1978,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical
Safety and Pollution Prevention. “This rule requires contractors to follow some
simple and effective lead-safe work practices to prevent children’s exposure to
dangerous levels of lead. Lead poisoning is completely preventable.”
EPA proposed the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, which requires
contractors to be trained and certified in lead-safe work practices, in 2006. In
2008, EPA finalized the rule and set April 22, 2010 as the implementation date.
To date, EPA has certified 204 training providers who have conducted more than
6,900 courses, training an estimated 160,000 people in the construction and
remodeling industries to use lead-safe work practices.
EPA will continue to provide support and assistance to states, industry and
communities on all aspects of implementing this rule. Recognizing the large
number of contractors and homes subject to the rule, EPA is increasing its
outreach efforts and providing guidance to facilitate compliance and ease the
transition period following the rule’s effective date. This guidance can be
obtained at:
http://www.epa.gov/lead. EPA has an 800 number to respond to inquiries about
the new requirements: 1-800-424-LEAD (5323).
In addition to the rule becoming effective, EPA has issued three additional
actions:
A final rule to apply lead-safe work practices to all pre-1978 homes, effectively closing an exemption that was created in 2008. The rule will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
A notice of proposed rulemaking to require dust-wipe testing after most renovations and provide the results of the testing to the owners and occupants of the building. For some of these renovations, the proposal would require that lead dust levels after the renovation be below the regulatory hazard standards. EPA will take comment on the proposal for 60 days. The agency expects to finalize the rule by July 2011.
An advance notice of proposed rulemaking to announce EPA’s intention to apply lead-safe work practices to renovations on public and commercial buildings. The advance notice also announces EPA’s investigation into lead-based paint hazards that may be created by renovations on the interior of these public and commercial buildings. If EPA determines that lead-based paint hazards are created by interior renovations, EPA will propose regulations to address the hazards.
In addition, EPA is working with the Ad Council on a public-outreach campaign that will raise awareness among parents and caregivers of young children about the dangers of childhood lead poisoning from paint. EPA is jointly sponsoring the Ad Council campaign with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the non-profit Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. The campaign has developed a series of public service announcements in English and Spanish for use in radio, TV and print publications.
The federal government banned lead-based paint from housing in 1978. If a home was built before 1978, there is a likelihood that it contains lead-based paint. The 2008 rule requires contractors working in pre-1978 housing and child-occupied facilities to take the proper precautions to work lead-safe, including minimizing dust, containing the work area, and conducting a thorough cleanup to reduce the potential exposure associated with disturbing lead-based paint.
Posted by Debbie Pelley dpelley@suddenlink.net August 30, 2011 and can be found on line at this link: http://www.wpaag.org/EPA%20Reg%20on%20home%20repairs-renovations.htm